Quite small and hopeful dove

This is not as tiny a thing as I normally photograph on Tuesdays, but I think, at around five centimetres, it can reasonably be described as Quite Small. When I read that the month's theme is hope, I realised I should have saved those symbolic baby catkins with the shrivelled leaf which I shared on Sunday for a Tuesday photo; never mind, perhaps I can devise a variation on them another week. Today did not go to plan, so it was already rainy and gloomy again by the time I could have gone outside. First, a message from J's PA told me she has a cold and cough; this rang alarm bells despite her negative lateral flow test, especially as it is now estimated that at least one person in twenty five in England is currently infected with either the Omicron or  Delta variant, so we told her to stay at home. Then an email told us that the French subtitles have not yet been added to J's film, because the person doing it is trying to meet a deadline for another, much bigger job; so the rest of my morning was spent emailing the other people involved and researching options if I need a plan B. Fortunately the organisers of the Paris festival quickly agreed to a further extension, though I may yet resort to learning to create a subtitle file myself for integration into the yet to be created DCP. 

The dove was one of a set of tiny packages which my very kind and lovely friend W sent for my stocking. A few years ago, when I still lived near her, we agreed that we would exchange a few very small things each year, prioritising things which are home-made, recycled or from charity shops, so that we could both have something in our stocking that we didn't already know about. In fact I've only very occasionally got round to a small stocking for myself, though it's a nice excuse for soap from Lush, new pens and socks, and a chocolate reindeer for the top. J likes me to have one too, when she is enjoying hers (and P really doesn't want anything to do with it all). Since we moved south, each year W has posted a set of tiny gifts ingeniously selected to pack flat in a stiff A5 letter envelope. As well as the dove, I had a string of paper stars made from an old map, recycled newspaper pencils, and a pair of pretty bookmarks. I have been less well organised, though I do usually manage to find a couple of little things - tree decorations, an embroidered felt brooch, wildflower seeds... The dove, then, says something about our enduring friendship of almost thirty years, as well as W's values.

Doves are often used as symbols of peace, but in the Old Testament story of the flood a dove returns to the ark in which Noah and his companions have taken refuge, carrying a small olive branch to show that the waters are receding and bringing the hope of an end to the destruction and loss of life caused by the catastrophic flood, and the promise of renewal. It seems a good story to remember just now.